Hello from Portugal!!

Zen
The Bug Has Well And Truly Bitten
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Location: Portimão, Algarve, Portugal

Hello from Portugal!!

Post by Zen »

Hi everyone!
Here's a "Tuga" from a city called Portimão, in the Algarve, the southernmost region of continental Portugal. 8-)

First of all, i wanna thank the admins for the quick activation of my account, 30 minutes and i was in! Thank you! :)

About me... Where should i start? As this is a one-off, i'll give you the wide scope and try not to bore you guys to death...
I wanted to join this forum after i found Jim Watts's Fill'nsand blogspot, where he has the forum's link. I got curious and found what seems to be a great modeling community.
I started modeling at the age of 7, but only did it for a couple of years, during which, i destroyed 4 or 5 models. It all came about because of my love for aircraft, my dad noticed it and bought me a 1/72 Esci F-16 Electric fighter back in 1987.
I really wanted to become a pilot and till i was 16 everything was going in that direction but at that time, i was also taking my BMX riding skills a bit further but a backflip gone wrong split my left tibia and fibula in 3 bits each... That was the end of the fighter pilot dream, Portuguese Air Force requirements exclude candidates with metal in them, or that had suffered any severe fractures...
So, a titanium rod and 4 months later i was back on my bike... I also found time for girls and music, and both would become an even bigger part of my life, since i was 18. I listened to all the stuff my big brother brought home since i was 6, but never really thought i had anything to do with writing, composing and performing... Guess i was wrong, although i started as a singer who didn't know how to sing or write lyrics, let alone compose a song, my first band had a recording deal in it's first year of existence. That and professional bmx stunt riding demos took a big toll on my studies and i dropped out that same year...
Since then, lots of bmx, sex, drugs and rock'n'roll have come and gone but now, although i still have a rock band, we rarely play live gigs.
Started getting involved in garden designing, building and maintenance projects since i was 19 and been on and off the business throughout the years, but now i work at a beautiful 110 acres vineyard/wine estate, in which i'm the outdoor spaces maintenance supervisor. A couple of years ago, i had an accident with the farmland tractor i work with and broke my left wrist.The bones were so messed up that it needed a titanium plate, 10 screws, 3 surgeries and 10 months to get it properly healed...
While recovering from the 2nd surgery, i started to get very bored at home and while watching "Top Gun" for the 1000th time, i missed that bit of my life so much that by the end of the movie, i was determined to buy a model... I also needed therapy for the wrist so, what else would be better than to fettle with tiny plastic bits? :-D
Well, i guess that's enough to give you guys a bit of my background, the rest will be all modeling related, i promise!

Cheers! 8-)
DH-Drover
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Re: Hello from Portugal!!

Post by DH-Drover »

G'Day Zen. Having several bits of metal in my foot, medical not accident, I know how boring it can be stuck in bed/wheelchair for several months. :roll: However time marches on. So......Welcome to the forum from a bit further south. Australia to be exact.

Dai
Semper ubi pura sub ubi.
Life or Death there no other options.
Indian Proverb.
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DavidWomby
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Re: Hello from Portugal!!

Post by DavidWomby »

Welcome to the forum.

David
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JohnRatzenberger
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Re: Hello from Portugal!!

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

Welcome aboard !!!!
My first recommendation would be to not have wheels on the chair at your modeling table :grin:
John Ratzenberger :???:
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AndrewR
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Re: Hello from Portugal!!

Post by AndrewR »

Welcome to the forum Zen. I visited Portimão a very, very long time ago, on holiday. The Algarve is my favourite part of Portugal.

Edit: Just remembered, we stayed at the Hotel Alvor Praia. Great beach.

Cheers

Andrew
Up in the Great White North
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jssel
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Re: Hello from Portugal!!

Post by jssel »

Welcome Zen. Enjoy your stay.
Besting 60 years of mediocre building of average kits in the stand off scale
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iggie
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Re: Hello from Portugal!!

Post by iggie »

Welcome to the Forum Zen!

I was joining the Royal Navy until I was knocked off my motorbike and smashed my legs up......they didn't want me after that!
What kind of music are you and your band into? Anything available on line to look at?
Best wishes

Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
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Stuart
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Re: Hello from Portugal!!

Post by Stuart »

Welcome Zen, it's to have another member from the bit of Europe that isn't the UK :-D

This is indeed a great forum - feel free to dive right in!

@Iggie - I'm now understanding the canal boat.

Regards

Stuart
Stuart Templeton I may not be good but I'm slow...

My Blog: https://stuartsscalemodels.blogspot.com/
Zen
The Bug Has Well And Truly Bitten
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Location: Portimão, Algarve, Portugal

Re: Hello from Portugal!!

Post by Zen »

Wow! :shock: What a welcome, guys! Thank you so much! :grin:
DH-Drover wrote:G'Day Zen. Having several bits of metal in my foot, medical not accident, I know how boring it can be stuck in bed/wheelchair for several months. :roll: However time marches on. So......Welcome to the forum from a bit further south. Australia to be exact.

Dai
Semper ubi pura sub ubi.
Hey Dai, yeah, it is boring, i broke the same left fibula at the ankle area just over a year after the first fractures and spent another whole month in with a cast on my leg, but as you say, time marches on. Bones heal and chicks dig scars, right? :mrgreen:
dwomby wrote:Welcome to the forum.

David
Thank you!
jRatz wrote:Welcome aboard !!!!
My first recommendation would be to not have wheels on the chair at your modeling table :grin:
Thanks! :lol: Why not, used to wheelie my wheel-chair at the hospital! Hum... now that got me thinking, maybe i could try a 360º glue the wing on! :ha: :-D
AndrewR wrote:Welcome to the forum Zen. I visited Portimão a very, very long time ago, on holiday. The Algarve is my favourite part of Portugal.

Edit: Just remembered, we stayed at the Hotel Alvor Praia. Great beach.

Cheers

Andrew
Thanks, Andrew! Glad to know you like this small "paradise", as i call it. :) The Alvor beach, which we call Torralta because of 3 big hotel buildings built just a few meters from the sand, is indeed, one of the best in the area. Hope you get to come back! :)
jssel wrote:Welcome Zen. Enjoy your stay.
Thanks! Already am! :grin:
iggie wrote:Welcome to the Forum Zen!

I was joining the Royal Navy until I was knocked off my motorbike and smashed my legs up......they didn't want me after that!
What kind of music are you and your band into? Anything available on line to look at?
Thanks! Ouch... sorry to hear that, it is hard to deal with a dream being blown away but one gets over it, right?
Well, i hope i didn't mislead anyone to believe that i'm good at it... :-D I like a lot of music... i can tell my n# 1, which are Faith No More... Although, i'm not even a real singer compared to Mike Patton, he's my #1 Singer, which helps to explain why i like them so much.
I've been in a few types of projects, most were punk rock or 90's rock, whatever people call it, with a bunch of genres thrown in, like funky or a more grungy guitar and drums... oh well, a lot of stuff but the one that has stuff online is my latest, The Quest, we had a mix of genres in the albums but i guess you can call it pop rock. I have to warn you that we're just a simple band, no stardom dreams here anymore, we're not worthy... :-D And life getting more complicated with families growing, i don't see much happening anytime soon.
Check it out on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheQuestPt?spfreload=1;

Well, i'm going to start posting some of the stuff i've done so far in these 2 and half years of modeling. I'm still learning most of everything and trying out all the different techniques and materials so don't expect much. :oops:

Cheers, guys!
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Dazzled
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Re: Hello from Portugal!!

Post by Dazzled »

Welcome to the forum and back to modelling Zen. I hope it involves less injuries than your past activities ;-)
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Zen
The Bug Has Well And Truly Bitten
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Location: Portimão, Algarve, Portugal

Re: Hello from Portugal!!

Post by Zen »

Dazzled wrote:Welcome to the forum and back to modelling Zen. I hope it involves less injuries than your past activities ;-)
Thank you very much! :) Till now, everything's been safe... though it can be dangerous for my credit card... :roll: :mrgreen:

Cheers!

Zen
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iggie
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Re: Hello from Portugal!!

Post by iggie »

Zen wrote: I've been in a few types of projects, most were punk rock or 90's rock, whatever people call it, with a bunch of genres thrown in, like funky or a more grungy guitar and drums... oh well, a lot of stuff but the one that has stuff online is my latest, The Quest, we had a mix of genres in the albums but i guess you can call it pop rock. I have to warn you that we're just a simple band, no stardom dreams here anymore, we're not worthy... :-D And life getting more complicated with families growing, i don't see much happening anytime soon.
Check it out on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheQuestPt?spfreload=1;
I like the music! There is a little touch of Nickleback in there to my ear, and that's no bad thing :grin:
Best wishes

Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
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TobyC
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Re: Hello from Portugal!!

Post by TobyC »

Welcome. That's some history you have there with breaking things other than models :)
Enjoyment over accuracy. That's my motto
Zen
The Bug Has Well And Truly Bitten
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Joined: April 20th, 2016, 12:58 am
Location: Portimão, Algarve, Portugal

Re: Hello from Portugal!!

Post by Zen »

iggie wrote: I like the music! There is a little touch of Nickleback in there to my ear, and that's no bad thing :grin:
Cool!! Glad you like it! And that it reminds you of Nickelback is a compliment to me, may not be one of my favorites but i like their music. :grin:

I do like heavier stuff than what i do with this band but that's what you get when you put 5 heads mixing up their ideas and influences. I can't just force my ideas over the rest of the band, it's team work. 8-)
TobyC wrote:Welcome. That's some history you have there with breaking things other than models :)
Hi Toby, thank you! :) Indeed i have a few tales to tell, stupid kid stuff! :mrgreen: Anyway, you learn when it hurts, right? I am very sorry about the models i mistreated back in my youth, i've been trying to remember every model i had back then to see if i can buy all of them just for the trip down the memory lane. I've built the Matchbox Tunnan so far, still have to buy the Esci 1/72 F-16A Electric fighter, Hasegawa EA-6B Prowler, Italeri F-14A+ and F-4S... and i think i also had a Mig-29A, which was probably my last kit back then.

Cheers, guys! 8-)

Zen
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Dazzled
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Re: Hello from Portugal!!

Post by Dazzled »

Just listened to Mea Culpa. A bit light for me but I do detect influences of Alien Ant Farm, Papa Roach and Nickleback in there. 8-)
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